By Okeh, Onyekachi Chukwuemeka.

Having finished at work today and seemingly crashed all my schedules to make sure that i get into my "empty room" which has always showed so much excitement at receiving me after works everyday, which could be likened to how my Mother jubiliates whenever she hears either in real life or in a dream that I would be visiting Aba very soon.

After the routine, removing my clothes and having my shower which consistently reminds me of the need to effectively acquire my own hand cuff and prison as they say called marriage, I rushed off straight to a "Lady" who has been my best company for a minimum of sixteen (16) years now to see what it has for me, little did I know that beyound the regular information it dishes out to me through the write ups and videos which I consume from its screen, that it was about to remind me incase I had forgotten of a big event that has been scheduled by God Almighty to be commemorated on the thirteenth (13th) of August yearly till the day God Almighty calls the celebrant to come and be with Him which I am certain would be at a very old age.

Therefore, having established that this day is the birthday of a remarkable young man who grew up partly in the village at Ufuma and on the streets of 042 sort of, it dawned on me that stringing the right words to celebrate this enigma of a man would be one of the most difficult responsibilities to execute on a cold rainy day as this, without a warm company.

Moreso, being that I am a young man who gives his all to tasks assigned to me, I vowed to dare to give writing this tribute a trial and the result of that trial is what you are reading now as my birthday tribute to Ochinanwata / Kachisiemeamaka / Ifeomaejiamaatu na NAUTH. The transformational and disruptive leader of NAUTH.

From a not too distinguished background with respect to his parents having very deep pockets, he is the scion of a very committed Catholic Father who was addicted to hardwork, a man with a very lively personality and married to a woman who wears discipline on her sleeves coupled with her unquantifiable love for God, they were able to raise this young distinguished Physician and Adminisrerator of excellence with the help of his Uncles and Aunties who played strategic roles which we can say makes up "the community" that helped raise this asset that NAUTH is blessed with today. [i]Remember that in Africa, it takes a community to raise a child [/i]and most children raised by the community come out soo well just as we can see with this Distinguished celebrant.

A philosopher once made mention of how greatness is bequeathed to some people and how some other people attain theirs through sheer dint of hardwork, it is worthy to know that Dr. Joseph Ugboaja 's was attained by hardwork and the grace of God upon His life over these years.

From being a Senior Prefect at an institution where he had not spent the traditional number of years required to be given such a sensitive position with enormous responsibility during his Secondary school year to his years as a Medical student in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical School where he distinguished himself as a star among his peers down to when he was the Chief Resident in Obstetrics and Gynaecology while on training as a Resident Doctor through to when he became the very first Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC) NAUTH to being the Chairman Medical Advisory Committee ( CMAC) and now to the final destination in a Federal Teaching Hospital where he has been appointed by the Commander In Chief Of Federation of Nigeria it has been a consistent tale of bravado, excellence and continual improvement of the system.

Dr. Joseph Ugboaja is synonymous with performance, capacity, energy, commitment and a stubborn will to do the unthinkable in his bid to continually improve the system. He is one who believes that anyone who works hard enough in any system should be rewarded effectively by such systems.

Wherefore, having watched him writ in pains at the loss of some projects that were supposed to be cited at our permanent site, to the frustration of having a very tall infrastructural transformation dream with the least of resources to execute them, I have been in the room to see some of his very bad days and also been around too on some of his very jubilant days where he struck very big wins, it is no fluke when I say that Ochinanwata had long been predestined for this day and all that are manifesting at this time. The beauty is that he came well prepared for the job.

Finally, I am well aware and would not be surprised when he would manifest fully as a star that he has been created to be. The world definitely has been preprogrammed to host one of its very finest of guests in the person of Ochinanwata and for the period that he has been assigned to carry out his task on this space, be rest assured that of all the institutions that he would ever touch, they would tell so much about the kind of man he is. We are most convinced that the results of his administrative excellence would be there even after he has left those institutions to speak for him.

Dear Chief Medical Director / Principal, it is your day and it is my wish to say happy birthday to you and pray for God to bless you in ways that we as humans would not effectively comprehend talk more of to narrate. You are loved and I wish you the very best of this life and beyound all, May your aspirations for Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital become a reality in our life time.

Happy birthday to the youngest Chief Medical Director ever of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Anambra State (NAUTH).

#ochinanwatameansbusiness #josephugboaja #DisruptiveLeadership

Some more shots